Make Ocean Slime For Under The Sea Fun

Swirling ocean waves of color! Make ocean slime for an AWESOME under the sea theme this summer. Use any of our basic slimes including saline solution slime recipe, borax slime recipe, and liquid starch slime recipe to make this ocean theme slime recipe the kids will love to play with! Making slime with our homemade slime recipes is an AMAZING way to connect with kids.

MAKE OCEAN SLIME FOR UNDER THE SEA FUN!

UNDER THE SEA

There is so much to love about the ocean. I love the colors especially and that was my inspiration when we decided to make ocean slime for our newest summer slime recipe.

We have 5 basic homemade slime recipes which are quite simple to make for wonderful science and sensory play. You can read more about the science behind our homemade ocean slime below.

SEE OUR OCEAN SLIME IN ACTION!

HOW TO MAKE SLIME

All of our holiday, seasonal, and everyday slime use one of five basic slime recipesthat are super easy to make! We make slime all the time, and these have become our go-to favorite slime recipes!

I will always let you know which basic slime recipe we use in our slime recipe, but I will also tell you which of the other basic recipes will work too! Usually you can interchange several of the ingredients depending on what you have on hand for slime supplies.

Here we use our Liquid Starch Slime recipe. Slime with liquid starch is one of our favorite sensory play recipes! We make it ALL the time because it is so quick and easy to whip up. Three simple ingredients {one is water} are all you need. Add color, glitter, sequins, and then you are done!

Where do I buy liquid starch?

We pick up our liquid starch in the grocery store! Check the laundry detergent aisle and look for the bottles marked starch. Ours is Linit Starch (brand). You might also see Sta-Flo as a popular option. You can also find it on Amazon, Walmart, Target, and even craft stores.

But what if I don’t have liquid starch available to me?

This is a pretty common question from those who live outside of the United States, and we do have some alternatives to share with you. Click on the link to see if any of these will work! Our saline solution slime recipe also works well for Australian, Canadian and UK readers.

Now if you don’t want to use liquid starch, you can absolutely test out one of our other basic recipes using saline solution or borax powder. We have tested all these recipes with equal success!

NOTE: We have found that Elmer’s specialty glues tend to be a bit stickier than Elmer’s regular clear or white glue, and so for this type of glue we always prefer our 2 ingredient basic glitter slime recipe.

HOST A SLIME MAKING PARTY AT HOME OR SCHOOL!

I always thought slime was too difficult to make, but then I tried it! Now we are hooked on it. Grab some liquid starch and PVA glue and get started! We have even made slime with a small group of kids for a slime party! This ocean slime recipe below also makes a great slime to use in the classroom!

No more having to print out a WHOLE blog post for just one recipe!

Get our basic slime recipes in an easy to print format so you can knock out the activities!

We used blue and green food coloring and combinations of each to make a variety of ocean colors for our ocean slime! Add coordinating glitter to each one for extra sparkle. Silver glitter works just fine too! Always check out the dollar store for affordable ways to stock up on glitter.

Grab sea shells, plastic ocean or sea creatures, and shells to mix into and play with your ocean slime. Kids love to hunt for fun little items in the slime and it’s terrific fine motor practice too!

YOU WILL NEED (Per Batch):

1/2 Cup Clear Washable School Glue

1/4 Cup Liquid Starch

1/2 Cup of Water

Food Coloring

Glitter

Seashells, Plastic Sea or Ocean Animals (Optional)

HOW TO MAKE OCEAN SLIME

STEP 1: In a bowl mix 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup of glue (mix well to combine completely).

STEP 2: Now’s the time to add (color, glitter, or confetti)! Remember when you add color to white glue, the color will be lighter. Use clear glue for jewel toned colors!

You can never add too much glitter! Mix the glitter and food coloring into the glue and water mixture.

STEP 3: Pour in 1/4 cup of liquid starch. You will see the slime immediately start to form. Keep stirring until you have a gooey blob of slime. The liquid should be gone!

STEP 4: Start kneading your slime! It will appear stringy at first but just work it around with your hands and you will notice the consistency changes. You can also put it in a clean container and set it aside for 3 minutes, and you will also notice the change in consistency!

SLIME MAKING TIP: We always recommend kneading your slime well after mixing. Kneading the slime really helps to improve it’s consistency. The trick with liquid starch slime is to put a few drops of the liquid starch onto your hands before picking up the slime.

You can knead the slime in the bowl before you pick it up as well. This slime is stretchy but can be stickier. However, keep in mind that although adding more liquid starch reduces the stickiness, and it will eventually create a stiffer slime.

PLAYING WITH OCEAN SLIME

You will love how easy and stretchy this ocean slime is to make, and play with too! Once you have your desired slime consistency, time to have fun! How big of a stretch can you get without the slime breaking?

Lay each color of your ocean slime out next to each other in long strips to swirl together. The slime will begin to mix quickly! Once the slime warms in your hands and begins to flow, the colors start to mix together and look just like the amazing colors of the ocean.

This ocean slime is amazing sensory play that even grownups love! Since this liquid starch slime recipe is thicker, there is much less mess on the hands during play. Though always remember to wash hands after!

We started with three distinct blobs of ocean slime on the table and slowly they spread out and connected with one another. Don’t forget to try out our beach sand slime too. These two slimes would be fun to pair together!

The clear glue gives our ocean slime a neat transparency even though it is colored. You can make ocean slime with white glue and food coloring but the results will be different. Still fun though!

STORING YOUR OCEAN SLIME

Slime lasts quite a while! I get a lot of questions regarding how I store my slime. We use reusable containers in either plastic or glass. Make sure to keep your slime clean and it will last for several weeks. I love the deli-style containers I have listed in my recommended slime supplies list.

If you want to send kids home with a bit of slime from a camp, party, or classroom project, I would suggest packages of reusable containers from the dollar store or grocery store or even Amazon. For large groups, we have used condiment containers and labels as seen here.

The waves of the ocean replicated in our gorgeous ocean slime recipe!

THE SCIENCE OF OCEAN SLIME

We always like to include a bit of homemade slime science around here! Slime is an excellent chemistry demonstration and kids love it too! Mixtures, substances, polymers, cross-linking, states of matter, elasticity, and viscosity are just a few of the science concepts that can be explored with homemade slime!

What’s slime science all about? The borate ions in the slime activators (sodium borate, borax powder, or boric acid) mix with the PVA (polyvinyl acetate) glue and forms this cool stretchy substance. This is called cross-linking!

The glue is a polymer and is made up of long, repeating, and identical strands or molecules. These molecules with flow past one another keeping the glue in a liquid state. Until…

You add the borate ions to the mixture, and it then starts to connect these long strands together. They begin to tangle and mix until the substance is less like the liquid you started with and thicker and rubbery like slime! Slime is a polymer.

Picture the difference between wet spaghetti and leftover spaghetti the next day. As the slime forms, the tangled molecule strands are much like the clump of spaghetti!

Is slime a liquid or solid?

We call it a Non-Newtonian fluid because it’s a little bit of both! Experiment with making the slime more or less viscous with varying amounts of foam beads. Can you change the density?

Did you know that slime aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)?

It does and you can use slime making to explore states of matter and its interactions. Find out more below…

I’ve just come through here from your ocean science post – more fab pictures. Forget the kids – I’m longing to get stuck in to that wonderful slime myself! Do you by any chance have a video of the slime in action?!

Your recipe says to use clear glue. Did you try the white glue and if so how did the slime come out?? I like the way your slime came out in the pictures. Do you know if you could use a clear Tacky Glue?? How long did it take for the slime to dry? I have never made slime but want to use it for a project my grandson is making. It is a 2nd grade shoe box of the ocean. It is due this Friday.

You can use white glue, but you will definitely get a different look for the slime. You want to stick with a PVA washable school glue. Store your slime in an air tight container and it will last a few weeks!

I have searched all over Pinterest and your ocean slime and your’s looks the best. However I can’t get to the recipe. I keep getting an error. Could you please send me the recipe? Rlcnalc@gmail.com. I would like to use it at our Riding the Wases with Jesus VBS this summer. THANK YOU!

The colours really do look like the ocean. We have a shell collection from Grandma’s and Grandpa’s that we take out and play with all the time. Ocean slime is a great addition. I’m loving all the themed ideas. Thank you!